


You're more than your past

by TacticalCupcakes



Category: Doki Doki Literature Club! (Visual Novel)
Genre: Implied/Referenced Self-Harm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-31
Updated: 2019-07-31
Packaged: 2020-07-27 14:15:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20047393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TacticalCupcakes/pseuds/TacticalCupcakes
Summary: Natsuki meets up with Yuri downtown to pick up some candles, but something unexpected happens that puts Yuri into a dark place; it's up to Natsuki to help guide her back.





	You're more than your past

_Where the hell is she…?_

Resting against the side of some shop, I tap my foot impatiently against the wall as I mindlessly scroll through my phone.

Yuri was hoping to pick up some fancy scented candles today, and since she’s so indecisive, wanted me to come along to help her narrow down her choices. Although I _do _really like candles, I doubt we’d like similar scents; she’s all about those flowery ones, whereas I prefer the ones that smell of sweets, you know? Stuff with names like “Marshmallow pumpkin latte” or “campfire doughnut”.

_Sayori’d probably like those too… although she’d probably try to take a bite out of them…_

I chuckle at the mental image of her straight up chomping a chunk out of the compressed soy as if it were white chocolate. It’s probably a good thing she has a friend like Emery to intervene whenever she jumps towards something without thinking, even if he has about as much common sense as a brick.

“Um... hi…!”

I look up and see Yuri’s finally decided to grace me with her presence.

“Damn, took you long enough!” I huff, before offering her a grin. “What was the hold up?”

Yuri fidgets with her hair, glancing over at me nervously. “I was… trying to pluck up the courage to wear something a little more daring… does it look okay?”

She’s wearing a thin navy-blue V-neck, which actually makes her look pretty stylish. Is that what she considers daring?

“Yeah, it’s cool,” I say. “It’s probably much more comfortable than that super thick jumper you like so much!”

“W-Well,” she stutters, a light blush on her face, “it _is _summer, so… as much as I like that jumper, I think I prefer stepping a little out of my comfort zone to collapsing with heat exhaustion.”

_Fair point._

“Eh, I guess…” I shrug, “but anyway; where did you want to go today? Did you have a place in mind?”

Immediately, her eyes light up. “Oh, absolutely! There’s a delightful shop just a short distance over there,” she points across towards the far end of the street.

It doesn’t take us long to get there, which I’m totally okay with; even though I’m not really the busiest person, I don’t really like waiting around for stuff longer than a few minutes. Maybe I’m just impatient; or it _could _be related to the fact that I’d become accustomed to staying on guard all of the time, so moments where I could just be myself were few and far between.

I shake my head, trying to dispel those bad memories. _You’re not gonna get me today…_

As we arrive, Yuri pushes the door open and takes a deep breath. Wearing a big, genuine smile, she makes a beeline for a large display table with a _ton_ of different varieties of candle. It’s actually kind of funny seeing her so excited over something like this; it’s almost like watching a little kid chasing after a fluffy little bunny, shouting after it that they want to be the bunny’s friend.

“Ooh, what do you think of this one?” she sighs, presenting a soft off-white candle to my face. I can’t deny that it smells nice; kind of like vanilla, but with a hint of cinnamon too.

“It’s pretty good, actually…” I say, taking another smell of it. “Did you have some others you wanted to check out?”

She smirks. “Of course! I wanted to look at a few different-“

“Heya! How’re we doing today?”

Yuri jumps at the sudden interruption, staring back at the over-enthusiastic employee.

“Listen,” I raise an eyebrow at them, “we’re pretty sure about what we’re looking for, so I think we’re okay on that front.”

_Was that a bit rude? Maybe I shouldn’t have been snippy like that…_

“Oh, that’s okay!” they continue to beam, “I just thought you might like to try out our newest perfume!”

The employee holds up a small, clear bottle with a few floral designs on the sides. “If you’d like, I can give you a little spritz on your wrist so you can check it out!”

At this, Yuri’s eyes noticeably widen. “A-Ah… t-that’s…”

“Here, you’re gonna love it!”

Without allowing Yuri to give an answer, the employee reaches over and grabs the cuff of Yuri’s sleeve, hastily rolling it up. They hover the bottle over her exposed arm, but suddenly they lose their smile.

“Oh…” they say, inappropriately loud, “what’s up with all of that on your arm? Did something make you do that?”

At this point, Yuri’s visibly shaking, unable to respond. Her eyes look like they’ve clouded over, trapping herself in her noisy mind.

“What the hell is wrong with you?!” I point at them accusatorily, “You can’t just ask someone about that!”

Without giving that jerk a chance to make some stupid excuse, I grab Yuri by the hand and try to pull her out of the shop. Although she follows me, she’s nowhere near being aware of her surroundings. Her movements are static and robotic, and her gaze doesn’t shift from whatever horrible thing she’s seeing in her head.

Safely out of the way of anyone who could make things worse, I turn to her. Her breaths are quick and shallow, and she’s dithering to herself.

“Yuri! Hey, you in there?” I ask, unable to hide the sense of urgency in my voice.

She continues her confused muttering.

“HEY!”

Yelling this time, I grab her by the shoulders and shake her a little bit. After a moment, she seems to snap back to reality,

“I… I m-made things terrible again, d-didn’t I?” she says with a soft sob. “This was supposed to be a joyous occasion, but t-then everybody saw the broken person that I t-truly am, and-“

“I’m gonna stop you right there,” I give her shoulder a gentle squeeze. “What happened back there wasn’t your fault…”

“To just… be _exposed _like that… “ she looks at me with sad eyes, “I feel so… ashamed…t-they must have thought I was such a freak…”

“Then that’s _their_ problem; it was really rude of them to ask that about you. You don’t have to explain anything to anyone, okay? You’re just being you, and that’s all that matters.”

“Huhu,” she lets out a quiet laugh, “it’s a bit out of character of you to be this sweet in public, isn’t it?”

“H-Hey!” I cough, “I’m not gonna sit around and let some idiot trample all over the people I care about.”

It takes a minute, but she eventually gives me a smile. “Do you mind if we… just stay here for a little while…?”

“Sure.”

She wraps her arm around me, and pulls me close towards her. Although we’re just out in the street, I don’t really care; I just want her to be okay with herself. Hell, I know that if someone just came up to me and asked me about some of the stuff _I’ve _been through, I’d be pretty pissed. But Yuri is kind of lacking in that department; she needs someone to remind her every now and then that she deserves basic respect.

_And I’m totally okay with being that someone…_

“U-Um…” she mumbles quietly, “do you mind if… we got the candles some other time? I… I don’t really want to face them again right now…”

“Psh, I don’t mind. Why don’t we check out somewhere else?”

“I-In a minute… I just… like being here right now… with you…”

In the past, I might’ve said something standoffish, but… it doesn’t feel right to do that. So instead, I lean into her and slowly rub her back with my hand.

_I hope someday that you’ll be able to see just how great you are, Yuri…_


End file.
